


these old bones

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I cannot believe I’m back here, I don’t know why, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, depends if I get inspired or not, for now this is a one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Five comes through the portal a little... differently.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 332





	these old bones

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Klaus, accompanied by the protests of his siblings, chucks the fire extinguisher into the roiling mouth of the spitting blue disturbance. It doesn’t do much of anything, which they all expected, and he shrugs helplessly at their shouts. With a loud whoosh, a man tumbles out of the howling rift into a heap of limbs on the wet ground. It closes with a sudden snap. The man's hair is a stark ruffled white and slick in a vaguely familiar fashion, he has a prim white mustache and a dark suit that’s rumpled from his fall. The old man pushes himself to his feet slowly, rough hands marred with dirt. He stands, and meets their eyes, cursing as he sees them staring with open mouths, " _Shit._ "

His voice is rough, scarred, and worn. If Klaus had been a poet, well-traveled would be his word of choice.

Klaus blinks as Luther steps forward, taking charge in that overbearing way of his, "Not another step! Not until you tell us who you are." Diego glared at his older brother with his usual annoyance, a hand toying with a knife, "Yeah, and what the hell was that?"

The man blinks at them, eyes wide before his brows turn down as he rasps, asking- no,  _demanding_ , "What’s the date? The  _exact_ date."

Allison frowns, utterly confused as she takes a hesitant step towards him, "March? March twenty-fourth?"

He nods, licks his lips, "Good." The strange man moves forward and both Diego and Luther react, blocking his path. He’s only a little taller than Vanya and slightly stooped, his fingers are worn and knobbed, white scars littering what’s visible of his arms. The man stares them both down despite the height difference. His hands don’t even shake, not a twitch, just slightly open, waiting and still. He’s calm, too calm at the threat of violence. Klaus finds himself, for the first time in a long time, doubting that his brothers would win in a fight against someone. His voice snaps Klaus's attention away from his hands, "I don’t have time for your shit right now."

He says it like he knows them, personally, as if he has had to deal with them before and has absolutely no intention of even trying to attempt such a Herculean task now.

The whole group flinches backwards. Klaus giggles at the audacity. Diego, as usual, challenges the offender, stepping up to get into his face, or stepping down really. That thought makes Klaus snicker again as Diego flicks his knife up, "Who do you think you are?"

The old man pivots effortlessly to his left, snarling like a mildly irritated cat, "Busy!" Klaus supposes the man would’ve stalked away, dripping with furious superiority, had Diego not reacted with violence. He lashes out, intending to knock the stranger off his feet, but the man whirls, almost too fast to be human. He catches Diego's arm with bruising force, twisting his hand at an extremely uncomfortable angle. The knife drops to the dirt from his slack fingers with a dull thunk. Diego gapes.

Luther moves to intervene, his shoulders hunching and legs spreading into a stance that will support his attack.

The man seems to see what Luther is preparing to do and he lets go of Diego's wrist, taking a step back, still poised for a fight. Everyone who isn’t Luther, and possibly Diego, knows immediately it would be a mistake to try and fight him.

The stranger huffs, straightening his cuffs as Diego cautiously eyes him, rubbing his probably aching wrist and figuring out his next move. Allison grips Vanya's shoulders protectively, watching with wary eyes.

The man grimaces, shoving his hands into his pants pockets, legs pointed slightly outwards and knees bent, "Fine. Whatever. I don’t have time for this." At their continued silence, he blurts awkwardly, as if he doesn’t quite know what to say to them now that he’s decided to talk, "It’s been forty-five years for me, however, it’s only been seventeen years on your end of this damn shitshow."

Klaus realizes who it is first. He’s taller, but only slightly, lips twisted in that same smug pride but with a touch of something new to them now. Something cold and desperate. He’s obviously older, wrinkled, but his eyes are still bright and sharp. That tear in reality had been his _power_ , his _teleportation_... His hair is even the same, patted smooth but still fluffed because he never could quite get it all down. Though it’s white now but still... god how hadn’t he realized that sooner?

Klaus steps forward, long feathery coat brushing his knees, "...Number Five?"

The old man,  _Five_ ,  smiles, but not in a comforting reassuring grin. A feral smile that’s all teeth and hidden anger and raw pain, "Klaus. The future is shit, by the way."

Luther looks like he’d be less surprised if Vanya had taken a baseball bat to his face. Allison's hand goes to her mouth as Diego sputters. Vanya chokes on nothing. Klaus shakes his head, "You’re uh... you’re a little older than uh..."

Five raises an eyebrow imperiously, "Yeah well." His smile tightens, lips thinning, "Its clearly been a lot longer than seventeen years for me." The crows feet at the corners of his eyes crinkle in stark utterly undeniable age.

Vanya speaks, finally, voice quiet in the damp, the sky thick with the feeling of impending rain, "Where...  Where have you _been?_ _"_

Amazingly, Five's creased brow softens almost imperceptibly, "The world is ending in eight days. That’s where I was. And where I _will_ be stuck for forty-five years unless I stop it."

Luther blinks.

Number Five glowers at them in the way that only he had been able to, "Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to see if the old man left any coffee behind."

He turns and disappears into the air, the flash of blue light warping reality, almost like he’d never been there at all.

Klaus twirls and trots towards the door. Luther's eyes haven’t left the spot where Five vanished, "What just happened?"

Diego, at least, is faster on the uptake. He calls to Klaus, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Klaus pauses by the doors, half laughing as if it was obvious (which it  _is_ ), "To get the full story out of him? The whole scoop?  _The tea, sis?_ "

Allison looks down at Vanya and the two share some sort of quiet communication. Both of them turn and bolt after Klaus. Diego seems to come to the same conclusion they did, that anything the long absent Five was doing was infinitely more interesting and important than whatever was happening currently.

Diego scoops up his knife and follows. Luther glanced at the sky where Five had ripped himself back into their lives once more, before following them at a more sedate pace. 


End file.
